Back-stay for carriage-tops



(No Model.)

H. HIGGINS.

BACK STAY FOR OARRIAGE'TOPS. No. 332,800. Patented Dec. 22, 1885.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY Brooms, OF, NEWPORT, KENTUCKY.

BACK-STAY FOR CARRIAGE-TOPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 332,800, dated December 22, 1885.

Application filed March 20, 1884. Serial No. 124,998. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY HIGGINS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Newport, in the county of Campbell and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Back-Stays for Carriage- Tops, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of an improved backstay and means for securing it to the seat or top of the carriage.

Back-stays are usually employed made of several pieces of buckram pasted together, so as to give the article the proper stiffness; but they are inclined to stretch, particularly at the edges, and are not durable. To overcome these difficulties, thin strips of sheetmetal have sometimes been fastened in the edges, and the back-stays secured by nails passing through the buckram and metal. These strips are very liable to break, which destroys the efflciency of the back-stay.

Back-stays have also been constructed of leather and other like materials; but these have been found objectionable, as in use they are easily injured, the leather is liable to crack, and the varnish, with which they are usually coated, liable to peel off, thus presenting a very unsightly appearance. Again, they do not retain their form, owing to their liability to warp. They are also exceedingly heavy, and do not possess sufficient flexibility to fully adapt them for the purposes for which they are intended.

By making the back-stay of the fabric and in the niannerhereinafter set forth, the above defects are obviated, and a strong, durable, and effective stay is produced, capable of withstanding the changes and inclemencies of the weather without injury, and which is not liable to be injured by any of the ordinary uses to which it is subjected. It is also very flexible, thus allowing of its being rolled up into a very small compass without injury to the material of which it is composed, and it will retain its shape much better than when made of the materials hereinbefore mentioned.

I am aware that belting and other articles have been made of a textile fabric with a wire woven in the selvage, and therefore such fabric is not broadly claimed by me, my invention being strictly limited to a back constructed of a fabric and in the manner hereinafter described and claimed.

The drawing represents a plan view of my improvement.

a a represent warpthreads of ordinary heavy duck webbing.

b represents filling or woof threads.

A represents a flexible wire cord,which is made by either twisting or braiding several fine strands of flexible wire together. The article of commerce commonly called picture-frame wire may be employed for this purpose. These cords A Aare woven into the selvage-edge of the duct or webbing, preferably by passing the woof-threads around them, so as to securely unite the cords and make them a part of the fabric. They may be inserted, however, in tubular longitudinal openings formed in the edges of the cloth, into which the wire is drawn after being woven, if desired.

B represents a piece of the back-stay made of my material.

0 represents a knob provided with a screwshank, c, on which the wire cord A is looped, for attaching the lower end of the stay to the carriage-seat. A similar fastening-piece is used upon the opposite edge of the lower end of the back-stay. Instead, however, of looping the wire around knob c, rivets or other fastening devices may be used to connect the wire-cord to the seat. The back-stay is lined and finished with leather or other ornamental fabric in the usual manner.

Additional wire cords may be used in the central portion of the warp, if desired.

I claim In combination with the back -stay composed of woven fabric having a flexible wire cord woven in the material at or near each edge thereof, fastening, devices 0, attached'to said flexible wire cord, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto se my hand.

HENRY HIGGINS. Witnesses:

A. GLUoHowsxY, EDWARD BOYD. 

